A Turtle's Gift
by Kellie Fay
Summary: This is based on both the original comics and the current animated series:  It was two years ago on Christmas eve that The Shreder attacked Leonardo and burnt April's home to the ground.  This Christmas eve Leonardo meets a mysterious stranger who may be


A Turtle's gift.

by Kellie Fay   


Disclaimer: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and related characters belong to Mirage Publishing Inc. I based my idea for this story on both the new animated series run by 4Kids Entertainment, and The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Comics namely Leonardo #1, and series # 10, 11. I added elements from the animated series to have it slightly more current. Frankly the idea just came to me this way and of course I needed Leonardo's fight with the Shredder to happen during the time period shown in the comics for this to work. This incident supposedly happened two years after the attack on Leonardo, and the fire at April's house.   
  
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and adapted by Johnny Marks  
  


_I heard the bells on Christmas day_

_their old familiar carols play._

_And wild and sweet the words repeat_

_of peace on earth good will to men_  
  


  
  


December 24th 5:24pm 

  
  


"What do you mean you don't wanna go?"   
  


Leonardo sighed as he turned away from Michelangelo, who was stuffing some boxes into a shopping bag, and walked over to the training dummy. "I just don't feel like going over April's tonight. Is that okay with you? " He began to work on some practice kicks.   
  


"No it's not okay," Michelangelo said crossly. "You did this last year too, Leo. You moped around all week, and then copped out when it was time for dinner."  
  


Leonardo stopped working out, faced away from Michelangelo and folded his arms. "So why don't you take the hint, Mikey, I don't want to go!"   
  


Donatello came over with a box of his own, and added it to Michelangelo's pile. "Mikey," he said with a deep heavy sigh, "leave it. If Leo doesn't want to go he doesn't have to. He'll just be a kill joy if he comes."  
  


"Hmph!" Michelangelo glared once in Leonardo's direction then picked up his bags and threw his trench coat over his shoulder. "Okay, if that's the way he wants it. He can have cold leftovers and stale soda for Christmas dinner."  


Raphael came out of his room with a package of his own. He jumped down to the lower landing of the lair with a double somersault, and moved to the wall as he watched the two argue.   
  
  
"It will be a better Christmas dinner than the one I had two years ago," Leonardo said flatly, still not facing Michelangelo.   


Michelangelo winced. The words had obviously scored their mark. Much more subdued Michelangelo called back, "Leo-" Raphael now moved forward and interrupted.  
  


"Drop it, Mikey. Come on we're gonna be late." With that he ushered his two brothers over to the elevator that led to the warehouse. Casually over his shoulder he called. "In case you change your mind, bro, we'll leave a plate warming for you."  
  


~Why would I want to change my mind? ~ Leonardo wondered idly. He sat down by the video monolith, and turned it on. "It's a Wonderful Life"flashed up on the multiple screens.  
  


"I wish I never was born," Leonardo heard Jimmy Stewart say over the TV.   
  


"A dangerous wish," A voice behind Leonardo said. Leonardo turned to see Master Splinter standing there. True to the old rat's nature Leonardo hadn't even heard his sense's approach.   
  


Leonardo turned off the TV "If you're wondering, sense, I'm not wishing that," he said, with a slight edge to his voice."  
  


"That is good to hear," Splinter said. "I do wonder, Leonardo what it is you do wish."  
  


"I don't know," Leonardo said slowly. After a moment of silence he asked, "Why does Mikey do this to me? It's almost like he's forgotten-" Splinter didn't let him finish that statement.   
  


"Michelangelo has not forgotten," Splinter said firmly. "He simply does not wish to dwell on the past. Last year in April's home we did discuss it briefly. Raphael watched the windows more often. Donatello reinforced April's home security system, and we missed you. They worry about you, you know."  
  


"There's nothing to worry about," Leonardo said, tensing up. "I just don't see why we should be celebrating anything. It seems so pointless."  
  


"We also counted our blessings," Splinter continued as if Leonardo had said nothing. "The seven of us, you four, April, Casey, and myself, we all survived. April has a new home, as do we. The Shredder was defeated again, and we have each other."  
  


"It shouldn't have happened." Leonardo insisted. "If we hadn't been fooling around with a holiday it wouldn't have happened."  
  


Splinter sighed. "You believe this, and I cannot change your mind. Do you truly believe that being with family and friends this night is pointless? "  
  


"I..." Leonardo could never completely contradict his sense. "I don't know."  
  


Splinter placed his hand on Leonardo's shell gently. "If you intend to spend tonight here then, I would ask you to meditate on this," the aged rat suggested softly. At that moment the elevator came down again, and the doors hissed open.   
  


"Master Splinter?" Donatello called out into the darkness.   
  


"Coming," Splinter called back. He patted Leonardo comfortingly on his shell, and then entered the elevator.   
  


"Sense," Donatello began, "is Leo-"  
  


"No," Splinter said, cutting Donatello off. "Let us go."  
  


The elevator rumbled closed, and its hum faded away. Leonardo was left all alone in the dark, on Christmas Eve.  
  
  
_I thought how as the day had come_

_the belfries of all Christendom_

_had rolled along, the unbroken song_

_of peace on earth good will to men. _  


~He doesn't understand, ~ Leonardo said to himself over and over again. ~Mikey and the others just can't possibly understand how I feel tonight. ~   
  


There was nothing on television other than Christmas programs, so Leonardo tried to meditate as Splinter had instructed him. He couldn't keep his mind still enough. Images from two years ago kept filtering through his mind.   
  


The Foot attacking him.  
  


The Elite Guard.  
  


The Shredder   
  


Within the hour he gave up meditating. He decided instead to go out for an exercise run.   
  


The bright white snow falling quietly down onto the street did little to sooth Leonardo's dark mood.   
  


He kept to the shadows watching the last minute shoppers rushing about. Their voices were happy, laughing and talking about the Christmas holiday. It was ridiculously easy to hide from these people. They were so oblivious to anything dark or unsettling. For them it was Christmas time, a time for joy.   
  


~Poor ignorant fools, ~ he thought.  
  


All this happiness was beginning to grate on his nerves, the same way Michelangelo had. Leonardo deserted the busy streets and moved into a darker side of town. Here there weren't that many flashing lights, and you didn't hear Christmas carols playing. The streets here were filled with slush grime and litter. The only sounds that penetrated these streets were the blasts of a television, some argument three floors up, a siren off in the distance, and a baby crying.   
  


~This is what's real, ~ Leonardo thought to himself smugly. ~No cheery lights, or peace on earth. It doesn't mean anything. A month from now the low lives will be back on the streets hurting people. Nothing will have changed. ~   
  


He turned down an abandoned alley feeling very smug and self righteous. The others would forget about this Christmas nonsense in a few weeks. The only thing interrupting his thoughts was the sound of the baby crying, and it was growing louder.   
  


Leonardo glanced at the windows above him. All of them were closed. If there was a baby up there, he shouldn't be able to hear it. He followed the sound, and after only a few minutes of searching he found the child in a grey dingy dumpster wrapped only in a light blue flannel blanket with faded little rocking horses, and a torn satin edge.   
  
_And in despair I bowed my head. _

_There is no peace on earth I said_

_For hate is strong and mocks the song_

_of peace on earth good will to men._  
  


"I don't believe it," Leonardo said, as he looked down at the infant. "You see what I mean? Everyone out there is going on about a Merry Christmas, and some human just left you out here in the garbage to die."  
  


Leonardo looked down at the child. He was going to have to do something about it. For a split second some small dark voice he would have never suspected existing inside of himself suggested that he simply put the poor child out of its misery. If he did it, it wouldn't be painful at all. It would be over before the child knew it.  
  


Before that second was over he was berating himself. ~What kind of inhuman monster are you Leonardo, ~ he thought to himself. ~Isn't it bad enough that this kid has been abandoned by its own mother? Now you want to finish the job yourself? ~  
  


~ That's not it! ~ the cold tiny voice argued back. ~ I know what this kid has to look forward too. Foster care with people who may or may not take proper care of him. ~ It was always on the news how these children would be found abused or starving or neglected, seven and eight year olds who had done nothing but wish for a loving family. Some of those kids would have been better off dead.  
  


~You don't know that! ~ He snapped back at the voice. ~You don't know what kind of life this child will have. Give him a chance to live at least! ~  


~So what are you going to do with it Leo? Walk into a hospital and leave it there? Bring it to April's as a Christmas gift? ~ The voice taunted him.   
  


~Shut up!~ Leonardo ordered the voice. With the force of his will he banished the voice from his thoughts. He looked down at the child in complete despair. ~ I don't know what to do! ~  
  


"What I would like you to do, my boy," A strange oddly accented voice said behind him, "Is bring the lad over here where he can get warm."  
  


Leonardo spun around simultaneously drawing his blades, in case the speaker meant to attack him. There at the end of the alley was an elderly gentleman. A deep red overcoat covered a black suit underneath. A small circle of red cloth covered his head. The light glinted against the gold cross he wore, and the small ring on his finger shone with a bright purple stone. His face was bright and cheerful, and his eyes were soothing and friendly.  
  


"You can put those away now, son." The old man said as he leaned against his cane. "I'm no threat to you."  
  


"Who are you?" Leonardo asked harshly. "What do you want?"  
  


"The old man chuckled. "I want you to bring the child over here, so he can get warm." The man said, a little more sternly this time. He gave Leonardo a look that told him he expected to be obeyed this time.   
  


Leonardo shrugged. Even though this seemed strange, he decided it was the best thing for the child. He sheathed his blades, and gently picked up the baby.   
  


The child's skin was icy to the touch, the blanket covering him doing little to keep the winter weather from him. Very slowly as if he expected the old man to suddenly betray him, he walked over and handed the child to the stranger.  
  


The stranger smiled then warmly on the child. "There now, lad, it's all right. we'll take care of you." He said softly to the child. He opened his coat slightly and putting his arm inside the coat cradled the child in his arms inside the warm fleece lining of the coat. Only then did Leonardo notice the collar around the man's neck.  
  


"Oh, I'm sorry... Father," Leonardo said hastily, with a slight flush. "I didn't know who you were."  
  


The priest chuckled at that. "No need to worry, son. You and your brothers have every right to be suspicious of human beings, but I'm no enemy to you."  
  


The old man didn't appear to be threat. Still Leonardo was a little confused. "My brothers? You know us?"  
  


The man adjusted the child, who was now sound asleep, and sucking on his thumb. "I've seen you four around," he said. "You used to live with that O'Neil girl. A fine young woman she is."   
  


The memory of that dark Christmas two years ago came back to Leonardo. "Yeah, we used to," he said with a slight shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.   
  


"It's good to see her get back up on her feet." The priest said. "I'm glad to see you and your brothers are doing well also. Come," he nodded his head to the left. "You and I have much work to do before tonight is over."  
  


"Me and..." Leonardo was now completely perplexed. As he took two large steps to catch up to the man who was walking away with the baby he said, "I'm sorry... Father, I was going to go-"  
  


"Where?" The old man asked with an amused glint to his eye, "back to your cold and empty lair? Not much of a Christmas there, son. You have been far too idle lately to suit me. It's time you do something active." As they walked along, the priest said, "You already know that evil doesn't celebrate the holiday, but they do take advantage of it. What I'd like you to do is take the flat of your swords to those that spread it."  
  


"I thought priests were supposed to preach peace," Leonardo said with a sly grin.  
  


"We do," the old man answered returning the smile. "But evil isn't impressed very much by it." He pointed to a doorway. It was the basement entrance of a school. Next to the school was a stone church lit by a single street lamp. A purple dragon was graffiti onto the side of the building.   
  


"Go in there, Leonardo," the priest instructed him. "Deal with what you find."  
  


The very idea that The Purple Dragons had defaced a church made Leonardo mad. He was about to tell the priest that he couldn't go in because he was a giant turtle, when he heard a woman scream. Forgetting his own apprehension, Leonardo raced across the street into the church's basement.  
  


Inside there were a dozen members of The Purple Dragons. Most of them were seated at the cafeteria tables used for what was now obviously a soup kitchen. The kitchen area was closed off by a small whitewashed doorway. Three of the Purple Dragons were holding the members of the soup kitchen hostage in there. One female worker wearing, a bright red sweater and a forest green skirt, was on the red linoleum floor with none other than Dragon Face above her.   
  


"I got what I want for Christmas," the leader of The Purple Dragons said with a leering grin. That was more than Leonardo could stand.   
  


"Sorry, Dragon Face," Leonardo said. "I think you'll have to take her back to the return desk. Better yet, let me do it for you!"  
  


Leonardo launched himself at the leader of the Purple Dragons, and sent him flying with a Dragon kick to the face. Dragon Face flew across the room and struck a bulletin board. He slid down the wall and the bulletin board came crashing down on his head.   
  


Two more Purple Dragons came after him, one brandishing a four foot chain. Leonardo leaped over the unarmed thug, then caught the chain as he came down and pulled its owner into the guy he jumped over.   
  


Of course three came after him next. They came from three different directions. It was almost a laughable strategy. Leonardo waited for them to come to him, and then knocked all three down with a single circular kick. As always kicking the cowards' sorry butts gave him a measure of satisfaction. One of the Dragons came at him with a switch blade knife. The knife stung as it embedded itself in Leonardo's left arm. Without thinking about the pain, Leonardo pulled the blade and flung it back at its owner, narrowly missing his neck. As the Dragon moved to avoid the blade, the girl Dragon Face had on the floor earlier whacked him on the top of the head with a frying pan.   
  


The remaining five didn't even wait for Leonardo to come after them. They fell over each other trying to leave the soup kitchen. Leonardo hadn't even bothered to draw his blades. The fight had only taken fifteen minutes. It was such a light workout he wasn't even breathing hard. He looked around at the damaged he had done during the fight, feeling a pang of guilt. There was no way these people would be able to open their soup kitchen now.   
  


Two young men at the kitchen grabbed a roll of duct tape and began to tie the unconscious Dragons up. A sudden movement to his left caused him to go into a ready position. It was a dark haired blue eyed woman who was wearing an oversized Garfield Christmas sweat shirt and blue jeans.   
  


"Easy there," she said soothingly as if he were a strange animal. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna take a look at where that guy stabbed you."  
  


She was obviously perplexed by his appearance, but he could tell by her eyes that she was willing to take into account that he had just helped them. "It's all right," he said gently, feeling even worse for scaring them with his appearance. "It doesn't hurt."   
  


His words gave her a bit more courage. She took a few more steps closer. "Are you sure," she said now talking to him more like a person and less like a stray dog. "That knife went in all the way."  
  


The fact that it didn't hurt made Leonardo wonder. He lifted his arm and turned his head to check the injury, only it wasn't there.  
  


"Huh?" Leonardo checked ever inch of his arm, but found no blood, and no wound. He even checked his other arm, only to find similar results. "There's nothing there," he said.  
  


"No way," a guy wearing a sweater sporting the Coca Cola polar bears said, picking up the chairs. "We all saw it. They got you, but good."  
  


The Garfield girl came closer and examined Leonardo's arms. "He's right!" she said as shocked as he was. "There's nothing here, not even a scratch." She eyed Leonardo quizzically. "I've never heard of green angels with shells."  
  


Leonardo rolled his eyes. "I'm not an angel," he insisted.   
  


"To bad," a blond man wearing a Homer Simpson apron over his cashmere sweater said. "We're going to need a minor miracle to open the kitchen now. Those punks trashed everything.   
  


Leonardo sighed. ~See, ~ he thought to himself. ~Nothing I do makes any difference. ~ Still he said sadly. "I wish I could help you, but I don't know what I could do."  
  


The girl who Dragon face had been going after smiled at Leonardo, even though he could tell she was a bit leery of him. "It's okay," she said. "You saved us. You did enough."  
  


"I'll check the cemetery out back," the guy in the Polar Bear shirt said. "No one will see you if you go out that way."  
  


"I appreciate that," Leonardo said. He watched as the guy opened the door. Outside there would be steps leading to the cemetery. "Hey there are boxes out here," the guy said. Curious, Leonardo peered over his shoulder. Sure enough there were ten large brown boxes stacked in the stairwell.   
  


"Boxes?" Garfield girl asked. She came over and examined one box. "This is a whole case of Stove Top Stuffing!" She said excitedly. "And that box, it's filled with cans of potato soup!" All the kitchen workers began tearing into the boxes.   
  


"You're not going to believe this!" The apron guy said. "This box is filled with still warm roasted turkey breasts!"  
  


"They're already cooked?" Garfield girl asked even more elated. "Guys, we can have this kitchen up and running in two hours!  
  


"So what are we waiting for?" The Polar bear guy said. "Let's get this kitchen cooking!"  
  


For the next hour Leonardo, caught up in their enthusiasm, helped bring in the boxes, and clean up the mess left by the Purple Dragons. Just before the soup kitchen was supposed to open, they found themselves ready, and better stocked than before.   
  


"I'll never doubt miracles again" the apron guy said blessing himself. "There was enough food out there that we'll be able to feel twice as many people as we thought we could." He patted Leonardo heartily on the shoulder. "Thanks dude, you were a big help."  
  


"I made most of the mess, it was only fair I help clean it up," Leonardo said with a shrug. "I should be going now, before your guests arrive."  
  


The woman with the Garfield shirt pressed a coffee cup filled with the rich potato soup into his hand. "I wish there was something we could do for you," she said.  
  


Leonardo's eye caught a cardboard box over in the corner. It was filled to the brim with various clothes. One item caught his attention. "Who do those clothes belong to?" He asked.  
  


The Polar Bear guy shrugged. "They're donated. If you want something out of there, pal, you're welcome to it."  
  


Leonardo sipped at his soup. "Thanks." He chose a thick fleece sweatshirt with a snowman on it. Even this child's shirt was way too big for the baby, but Leonardo felt it would be better than the thin blanket he found him with.   
  


After receiving more thanks from his new friends, whose names he didn't even know, he slipped out of the basement the back way into the cemetery. Before he even took three steps he heard a familiar voice behind him. "You did very well in there, Leonardo."  
  


He spun around only to find the old priest standing there with the baby in his arms. How did the old man sneak up on him like that?  
  


"Uh thanks," Leonardo said uneasily. He eyed the old man curiously. Could he have anything to do with the surprise food delivery? He was about to ask when the old man noticed the sweat shirt in his hand.   
  


"Is that a present for someone?" The priest asked.   
  


Leonardo flushed slightly. "Um I thought it would be warmer for the baby than the blanket."  
  


The priests face lit up delighted. "Ah excellent! Here, hold him while I dress him." Before Leonardo could protest the old man had paced the baby in his hands, and was expertly changing him into the sweat shirt.  
  


"It's a little big, but it should keep him warm." Leonardo said looking down at the child. The baby was smiling and giggling as the two struggled to clothe him.   
  


~I just wish there was something we could do about the graffiti, ~ Leonardo thought. He looked back at where the painted Purple Dragon was, but it wasn't there.  
  


~Huh? ~ He was sure, almost positive that there had been a Purple Dragon spray painted on the side of this church when he had gone in. ~Am I losing my mind? ~   
  


"So there are a lot of people who will have a good dinner now, thanks to you." The old man said, cutting into his thoughts.   
  


Leonardo shrugged, and some of his earlier reflections came to mind. "Yeah, for one night; in a few days this kitchen will probably close."  
  


"Not this one," the priest corrected him. "They try to stay open as much as they can, as long as the funds are there. Unfortunately you were right when you said that after Christmas most people forget what they were supposed to learn."  
  


The baby, now dressed, was back in the old man's hands. Leonardo stretched out his arms, and turned to face the old priest. "Huh?"   
  


"Didn't you say earlier that after Christmas things will go back to the way they were, and nothing will have changed?"   
  


"Um....well yeah I guess," Leonardo said, wondering if he had been that rude to say that in front of the priest."  
  


"I'll tell you a great secret, son," the priest said with a grin. "There are many people out there who are going through the motions, but to them the holiday means nothing. It is to those who keep the lessons they learn now that the holiday is for."  
  


"Lessons?" Leonardo asked.  
  


The old man nodded. He began to walk again. Leonardo followed passively behind him. "Of course what do you think the holiday is for? It's a reminder of how everyone should be treating each other throughout the year! It is those who keep Christmas in their heart all year round who learn and grow and make good things happen for others. It is they, who might bring shallower hearts around.   
  


"What do you mean by that?" Leonardo asked.   
  


The old man stopped nearby to a warehouse that had been painted completely black. The front door was open with loud obscene rock music coming out of it. "Anyone can be redeemed," he said. "You just have to know what they need to learn. Take that fellow over there." With his cane he pointed to a younger member of the Purple Dragons guarding the door. "One little act, might make him give up his gangster life and do something productive. It would save others too, but unless that little push is there nothing will change."  
  


Leonardo wasn't feeling very generous towards the Purple Dragons, but the old man's confidence made him curious. "What does he have to do? What's going to change him?"  
  


"You are." The priest laughed. "What I want you to do, this time, is to get that boy to follow you to where I show you. Do you think you can do that?"  
  


"You're going to show me where to lead him?" Leonardo asked confused. "But-"  
  


"Will you do it for me?" The priest asked looking him right in the eyes.  
  


The cool logical part of Leonardo's mind that kept him suspicious warned him that something odd was going on, but he wasn't exactly sure what it was. Either way when the old man looked at him like that there was no way he could refuse. "Okay," he found himself saying, "I'll do it."   
  


"Good lad," The old man said. He took the baby, and backed into the shadows, almost disappearing into them, as a ninja would have done."  
  


Still thinking that this was odd Leonardo shrugged, and snuck up to the warehouse. He glanced back over at the priest who nodded, and began walking west. Even though the priest could no longer see him, Leonardo nodded, picked up a small pebble on the sidewalk and threw it so that it hit in front of his intended target.   
  


The kid spun around a piece of lead pipe in his hand. Leonardo had fought the guy several times before. He had purple spiked hair and a nose ring. His shirt was a mottled camouflage blue, and his blue jeans had the trademark dragon embroidered on it.   
  


"Merry Christmas," Leonardo taunted leaning casually against the building. The street light illuminating him clearly. Leonardo pulled his right katana and twirled it in his hand.  
  


"You!" The Dragon said. He brandished his pipe, and moved towards Leonardo.   
  


~All I have to do is get him to follow me, ~ Leonardo thought. He did a back flip away from his opponent, and took a few steps over to where the priest had last been. A quick glance told him that the old man had moved further up the block.   
  


"You rotten green freak! Stand still!" The Purple Dragon growled.  
  


In spite of himself Leonardo was having fun with this. Even though playing with their opponents was more Michelangelo's style, it did make him feel a little giddy. The exercise earlier in the soup kitchen had warmed him up slightly, and he no longer felt as tired as he had earlier. "Sorry no can do tonight, pal," Leonardo called back still inching his way over to the priest.   
  


It was easy to lure the guy away from the warehouse. Leonardo kept the priest in sight as he teased, taunted, and lured the Purple Dragon up Canal Street over to where the priest wanted him. This was so simple that Leonardo let his mind wander a bit. Something was puzzling him.  
  


~ How is this old man moving so fast? ~ As fast as Leonardo was moving to keep ahead of the Purple Dragon, the old man always managed to be half a block ahead of him. As much as he would have liked to see how the old man was moving, he had to keep his eye on his target.  
  


Finally when he looked back at the priest he pointed with his cane to a small red brick six story building. Leonardo nodded to show he understood, and then jumped up on the fire escape.  
  


"Hey come on slow poke, I haven't got all night!" Leonardo called to the thug one more time. He raced to the roof of the building where the priest was waiting with the baby.  
  


"You did quiet well, Leonardo." The priest said.  
  


"But what did I do?" Leonardo asked. Just then he heard the breaking of dishes below.   
  


Leonardo looked over the edge. The Purple Dragon had heard the dishes as well. He peeked into the fourth floor window, and then stepped back in shock. "Amy?" He asked.   
  


From inside a woman's voice answered him. "Jarred?" The sound of a fist connecting with flesh followed.   
  


"Quiet you!" A male voice ordered. The sound of shattering of furniture followed.   
  


"Amy!" the Purple Dragon called out again. He broke the window with his pipe, and dove into the room. Once the fire escape was clear Leonardo jumped down avoiding the shattered glass. He pressed most of his body against the wall of the building and then peered inside. .  
  


The Purple Dragon was beating up on a stranger, but behind him was a girl, who looked at this thug as if he were her only protector. Her wheat colored hair was stringy as if it had been teased out, or not brushed for several days. She was dressed in a magenta baby doll nightgown, but that only illustrated the dark purpling bruise on her left thigh. There were bruises on her face as well, including a darkening black eye. Her nightgown looked as if it had been half ripped off of her.   
  
  
"I'm not telling you this again T J," the Dragon was saying. To a man with dark greasy hair and a spider tattoo on his arm. "The next time you even look at my sister I'll do more than wax your sorry behind!" Finally he threw the thug out the door, and then turned to face the girl.  
  


"Amy? How long has this been going on? How long has T.J. been pounding on you?" He asked her.  
  


The girl had her head in The Dragon's lap, and was mumbling something Leonardo couldn't hear between her sobs.  
  


"It's okay sis," The Purple Dragon was saying. He leaned over and gave her a protective hug. "We'll go to Aunt Lisa's home in Jersey. I'm getting you out of here once and for all."  
  


Leonardo watched as this guy who he had fought several times, suddenly become a tender and caring older brother. He helped his sister put together an overnight bag and left the apartment.   
  


Leonardo wasn't sure what to think at all. Once they were gone he slowly climbed back up to the roof.. Again the priest was waiting for him. "Not quite what you thought, is it, lad?"  
  


"I don't understand," Leonardo said leaning on the wall of the roof. He looked out to the city below. The traffic could be heard in the distance. "I mean I know why you wanted me to lure him here, but why him? He's caused a lot of people a lot of harm in his time. Why help him?"  
  


"Did not the girl, his sister, deserve assistance?" the priest asked.  
  


Leonardo flushed that he missed that. "Um well of course, but do you really think helping her will change him?"  
  


"It will," The priest insisted. "He will take his sister to New Jersey, and get a job out there. He may decide to take his sister further south to avoid her old boyfriend. He will eventually forget or regret the time he spent with the Purple Dragons. You will have redeemed him, and he will never connect you to himself saving his sister. "  
  


"Oh I don't care that much about it," Leonardo said sounding more confidant than he felt at the moment. "But what I was never able to understand is why the Purple Dragons and the Foot do what they do. Why are they evil?"  
  


"Are they?" The priest countered with an amused grin.  
  


"If they aren't they choose to be," Leonardo said sourly, not wanting to play word games. "When we first encountered the Purple Dragons they were robbing some store owner of all his money. They torched our friend's father's store when he wouldn't pay protection money. The Foot tried to kill us because we refused to ally ourselves to The Shredder. Aren't they evil? "  
  


"It is as you said, they choose to be." The priest said drawing out the baby from the shelter of his coat. "Everyone has the choice weather to follow the way of good or evil, but never doubt that good and evil are forces within themselves. Those forces permeate the very fiber of our world. It is for this reason that the forces of good must battle the forces of evil, and why evil things often happen to those who follow the way of good."  
  


"Now that I don't understand!" Leonardo said harshly taking a few steps away then turning back to him. "Why does evil exist at all? Why do bad things happen to good people? What did my friends and I possibly do to deserve what the Foot did to us?"  
  


The aged priest shook his head. "Without evil good would not exist, for you cannot have one without the other. As for why you were persecuted?" Here the old man sighed sadly. "You did nothing, my child, but stand against The Foot. As we have said, The Shredder chooses the way of darkness, and he spreads darkness in all that he does, but the forces of good were with you. You were not abandoned to the fate The Shredder had planned for you. You were not left alone."  
  


"Oh yeah?" Leonardo said, angrily. "How do you know?"   
  


The old priest looked directly at Leonardo. "I know that your friend Casey was sent to you." He answered.   
  


The words froze Leonardo in his tracks. "What does Casey have to do with this?" he asked slightly more subdued.   
  


"Casey was sent to you." He replied. "All things happen for a reason. Sometimes it is caused by good, other times evil. To counter the evil The Shredder was planning, your friend was sent to you, just as I sent you to lure that boy to his sister's home. You and your brothers were also given the strength and guidance to survive."  
  


"To survive, barely," Leonardo said, still slightly annoyed. "Not to win. I almost died that night."  
  


"That was their choice." The priest said again looking down at Leonardo. "Had they not chosen to protect you, they could have beaten The Shredder, but they would have lost you. They asked to have you live, and that was what they were given."  
  


"They asked? Asked who?" Leonardo countered. "Who are you for that matter? I mean you look like a priest, but ever since I met you this whole night has been turning weird."  
  


"You have to take me on faith, Leonardo." The priest told him sternly. "In fact that is your last task, an act of faith."  
  


"An act of faith?" Leonardo echoed, calming down. "I don't understand."   
  


The priest suddenly handed the baby back to Leonardo, and pointed with his cane behind him. Leonardo adjusted the baby on his shoulder, and suddenly realized that they were no longer on the roof of the building. Leonardo didn't recall using the fire escape or walking down stairs. They had been on the roof a second before, and now they were in a small sheltered parking lot behind a concreat barrier. Behind him were the doors to a hospital emergency room .   


"How did we-" Leonardo began but the priest didn't let him finish the question.   


"It is time to take our young friend to those who will care for him properly." The priest told him firmly. "Go take him into the hospital and leave him where he will be found.  
  


"What?" Leonardo tried to wrap the command around his mind, and found he could not. "I...I can't go in there!" He said as if it were obvious."  
  


"Yes you can," the priest said. "It is an act of faith."  
  


"But they'll see me!" Leonardo protested. "What do you think a bunch of doctors are going to do if they see a five foot talking turtle?"  
  


Before the priest could answer him, a girl of about seventeen came out of the shadows and ran right for Leonardo. He leaped out of the way, clutching the baby protectively to his chest.  
  


"You! You thing! You took my baby!" The girl shouted at Leonardo. She had deep brown ratty hair in four braids down the back of her head. Her dress was once a fine red satin, but now, like the baby blanket she had left her child in, was tattered around the edges. She wore no coat and despite the cold didn't appear to be uncomfortable. Her green eyes were fearce and angry as she glared at Leonardo.  
  


Leonardo took a step back surprised. "You? You're the mother?" A wave of anger washed over him. "You left him in the dumpster to die!"  
  
  


"So what?" The girl asked. "It's your fault! You killed my boyfriend!?"  
  


"Don't be concerned about her." The priest said evenly, looking sadly in her direction. "She made her choices, she cannot stop you."  
  


Still Leonardo wondered what she meant. "My brothers and I try not to kill anybody. If your boyfriend died as a result of something we did it was because he attacked us first. We don't start fights, we just finish him."  
  


"Just because you didn't slice him up you think it's not your fault? Does that give you a right to live freak?" The girl asked him angrily. "When you sent my boyfriend back to his boss he killed him! You don't deserve to live!"  
  


"Wait a minute," Leonardo said trying to piece together what she said. "You're mad at me because his boss killed him, because we beat him? Lady you should have told your boyfriend not to work for the Foot."  
  


"Now give me my baby! You can't have him! You don't deserve him!" The girl wasn't even listening to him. "He's supposed to be with me!"  
  


"You abandoned him!" Leonardo said. "You didn't want him!" The girl tried to grab the baby away from him, but to Leonardo's shock the girl's hand passed right through his arm.  
  


"What the?" Leonardo began. ~Is...Is she dead? Or am I? ~ The gurgling baby in his arms gave him his answer.   
  


~ She killed herself, and expected the baby to die too. ~ "You...You're dead!" Leonardo said. "You wanted him to die too? Alone?"  
  


"He was supposed to come with me!" The girl shouted. "You weren't supposed to find him, you...you accident!"  
  


"Which accident are you referring too?" Leonardo said his anger rising?" The accident that brought the Utroms to earth? Or the one where someone dropped a jar of baby turtles, or the one where a canister of radioactive ooze breaks open, and covers four little turtles and a rat and changes them into something else? You weren't listening to my friend here. Things happen for a reason. There is a reason I'm here. I don't know what it is yet, but I've got to treat every day as a gift." He looked over to the hospital.   
  


_~~"I...I can't go in there!" He said as if it were obvious.  
  
_

_"Yes you can," the priest said. "It is an act of faith."~~_  
  


"And act of faith," Leonardo said. He looked at the baby in his arms. "Every day I have is a gift. And you deserve that too." He looked back at the mother. "He's right, you don't count anymore. Don't blame me for your mistakes. I don't have to answer to you, and you can't stop me." With that he walked away from the spirit of the mother, and headed for the hospital.   
  


A part of his mind was screaming at him that this was insane. He was going to be seen he was going to be caught! Yet he was strangely calm. There was just something so right about what he was doing.   
  


He took a deep breath and strode out of the shadows into the light. He crossed the street opened the hospital doors and went in.   
  
The lights were brighter than anything he had ever seen before. Brighter than the lair, or at April's house. It made him feel very exposed and obvious, but there were no shouts or screams of fright. There were four nurses at a station in the front of the emergency room, but they didn't seem to see Leonardo standing there. Two doctors walked by. They went right past him, and didn't see him either. Three EMT's were having a cup of coffee and some pizza, but none of them reacted to Leonardo's presence. Off in the background Leonardo could hear the radio playing Christmas carols   
  


Slowly Leonardo walked by all the people sitting in the emergency room waiting to be treated. Some of them were drunk, and two of them looked as if they had gotten food poisoning, but it was relatively quiet. It was when two orderlies walked right by him that Leonardo grew suspicious.   
  


"Okay," he said to the baby in his arms. "This is getting seriously weird. No one here can see me." They managed to avoid him. He once stood in someone's way to test his theory. They walked around him, but they didn't' see him.   


_Then pealed the bells more loud and deep_

_God is not dead nor doth he sleep_

_the wrong shall fail, the right prevail _

_with peace on earth good will to men _  
  


Leonardo put the baby down on a gurney. "This can't be happening," he said, talking again to the baby. "I mean can it?" His mind filled with images from tonight, the mysterious food, showing up, the wound he didn't have, the fact that nobody saw him here." Leonardo decided that this was too big for him to deal with. He would just do as the priest had asked him. He found a clean blanket and wrapped the baby in snugly. "You just stay here," Leonardo said. "I'll bet the moment I'm not in the way the people here will see you."  
  


"You're right of course," the priest said off to Leonardo's left. "You really are quiet cleaver."   
  


"EEE!" Leonardo jumped back away from the gurney. "Don't scare me like that!" he demanded. As he waited for the priest to stop chuckling he said, "You're doing this. The food, my wound, and all this; you did it."  
  


"Not quite my boy," The old man said still smiling. "I simply asked it be done for you."  
  


"But how..." Leonardo tried to ask and failed to find words. "Why...who are you?"   
  


"Take me on faith, Leonardo," he replied. "We're almost done." The priest took out a medal on a gold chain and placed it around the baby's neck. "A blessing for you my child," he said as he traced a cross on the child's forehead with his thumb. He then placed his hand on Leonardo's shell. "Come, my friend, it's time for us to leave him."  
  


"I still don't get any of this." Leonardo said as they walked out of the hospital. "How did I walk through a hospital full of people and have nobody see me? Who are you that you can do this?"  
  


"Oh I didn't' do it, Leonardo," the priest insisted. "It was done because I asked it to be done, by a force stronger than I."  
  


Leonardo sighed and finally gave up. "You're not going to tell me anything."  
  


"Does it matter?" The priest asked.   
  


Leonardo thought about that. "I guess not, I'm just confused. Why me? "  
  


"Because one of your brothers's asked me too." He answered. Before Leonardo could even ask the old priest said. "Oh he doesn't know I heard him, but I did, and I felt that given what you have been through, you could use a little perspective on things." With that he reached back into his coat and drew out a small box wrapped in plain brown paper with red ornamental string tied around it ending in a bow at the top "Speaking of your brothers, if you're planning on visiting them at your friend's house, you might want to bring a piece offering. This is for your friend April. I'm pretty sure she'll be happy to have it."  
  


Leonardo accepted the box still very confused about everything that had happened tonight. Once the box was in his hands the priest buttoned up his coat and leaning on his cane walked away. "Merry Christmas, Leonardo" he said, and then the shadows swallowed him up.   
  


~I wanna find out which church he works at, ~ Leonardo thought. He gave the old man a twenty foot head start then began to ghost him. For three blocks he managed to keep the old man in sight, but then he turned down a dead end alley, and was gone.  
  


"Another strange event to finish this strange night." Leonardo said. He quickly got his bearings. He was less than two blocks from April's new apartment.   
  


~ Wouldn't you know it, ~ he thought amused. Considering all the odd things that had happened tonight, he wasn't even surprised. Deciding that he might as well go in and say hi, Leonardo climbed up the fire escape, and tapped gently on the window.  
  


Raphael let him in. "Well well," Raphael said with a sly grin on his face. "Look what the turtle dragged in."  
  


"Leo?" Donatello said sounding just as surprised.   
  


"No way," Michelangelo said giggling. "He's home sulking."  
  


April rose from the table and took his hand inviting him in. "I'm glad you changed your mind," she said.  
  


Leonardo came in, sat down, and accepted a mug of hot apple cider from Splinter. "I somehow ended up here, so I thought I'd come in."  
  


"You ended up here?" Michelangelo asked mischievously.   
  


"I went for a walk, and I met this really strange old priest," Leonardo said uncertainly. He didn't want to tell them everything that happened. They probably wouldn't have believed him anyway. "He gave me this for you," he told April, and handed her the wrapped box.  
  


"You met a human?" Raphael asked. Leonardo nodded then leaned back and closed his eyes. Absorbing heat from the hot mug through his hands.   
  


"He said he used to watch us on the roof of April's building. He wasn't scared of me or anything. I spent most of the night talking to him." April's apartment was warm, and the smell and feel of the warm mug in his hand seemed to be pulling the energy right out of him. Why was he suddenly so tired?  
  


Donatello noticed right away. "You okay, Leo?"   
  


"Yeah, he said then yawned hugely. "I'm just so tired all of a sudden." He sipped at the cider, and he listened to the crinkle of the wrapping paper as April opened her gift. The cider was tart and sweet all at once and sent a wave of soothing heat down his throat into his stomach. 

He started to relax and just answer their questions without thinking too much about it, until April's voice cut through his thoughts.  
  


"Leo, where did you say you got this?"  
  


"From this odd old priest I met," Leonardo said opening his eyes. There was tightness in April's voice that sounded wrong.  
  


"What is the matter April?" Splinter asked.  
  


They all leaned over and looked at the open box on the table. Next to it was a small wooden hand carved ornament of a Santa Clause toy. Strings ran from the arms and legs to a red chord on the bottom. Two additional strips of wood and a green bead finished the carving.   
  


April held up the ornament and pulled on the bead. The arms and legs moved up and down. She put the ornament down and buried her face in her hands. Tears began to fall freely, as she sobbed openly.  
  


"April?" Leonardo said truly concerned now. "April, tell me what I did wrong?"  
  


April shook her head trying to tell Leonardo that he had done nothing wrong, but she was still crying so hard she could not form words. The others looked at the ornament with confusion.  
  


"Wait a minute," Donatello said suddenly. "I think I've seen that toy before!"  
  


"Yeah it looks familiar somehow," Michelangelo said. He read the writing on the strip of wood above the bead. "To my springtime carrot top, Christmas 1985" He looked up at April. "You?"  
  


April nodded, and finally found her voice. "That ornament was carved for me by my dad when I was just a little girl." She took in a deep breath, and continued. "It was on the Christmas tree, the night of the fire."  
  


All four turtles and Splinter stared at her. "No way," Michelangelo said.   
  


April nodded, but Raphael repeated Michelangelo's statement. "There's no way, April," Raphael insisted. "I mean you remember what it was like. Nothing survived that fire, nothing could have!"  
  


"Certainly not a wooden ornament," Donatello added.   
  


"Are you sure it's the same ornament? Not just a new one?" Leonardo asked feeling a little weak in the knees himself.   
  


"It was one of a kind!" April said slightly nettled. "He carved it himself." She looked at the writing on the wood strips. "Even the inscription is the same."  
  


"This is impossible!" Donatello said again. "It couldn't have survived."  
  


All of them turned to Leonardo.   
  


"Leo," Raphael said. "Tell us where you've been all night right now!"   
  


Leonardo told them everything. By the time he got to the end of the story all of them were looking at him in shock.  
  


"Lemme get this straight," Raphael said. "You walked in to a hospital ER full of humans, and nobody saw you?"  
  


"They walked right past me," Leonardo insisted. I mean I might have been mistaken about the knife wound, and the food might have been a coincidence, but I didn't imagine that!"  
  


"And you never found out who the dude was?" Michelangelo asked.  
  


Leonardo shook his head and sighed. "I tried to ask a couple of times, he kept putting me off. Everything was so weird at that point I didn't try to figure it out. "  
  


"It matters not," Splinter insisted. "It does not appear that this gentleman meant any harm."  
  


"No he didn't," Leonardo said. "He said he came to me, because one of you guys asked him too. He said I needed some perspective on things."  
  


"One of us?" Donatello echoed.   
  


"He said you wouldn't know about it, but one of you must have wished for something." Leonardo explained.   
  


"But that doesn't explain anything," Raphael said. "I mean who was that guy, how did make all those things happen. Where did the ornament come from?"  
  


"Does it matter Raph?" Michelangelo asked. He had turned away from the others and was staring absently out of the window. That got Raphael and Donatello to look at him.   
  


"Of course it matters!" Raphael said. "We don't know anything about that guy!"  
  


Suddenly Leonardo understood. "We don't have to," he said smiling "We just have to take it on faith, right Mike?"  
  


Michelangelo turned back to them and nodded. "Let's just take this at face value bros. It's Christmas. Aren't miracles supposed to happen now? "  
  


"Don't tell me you believe in miracles, Mikey." Donatello said with a smirk.  
  


Michelangelo looked down at the ornament that shouldn't exist, and then looked back at Donatello. "Then tell me where that came from."  
  


Leonardo had to smile. Mikey had won that argument easy. In fact that was a minor miracle in itself. Michelangelo never won a battle of wits with any of them, but when it came to pure faith Mikey had them all beat, but the real miracle, Leonardo felt, was the change inside of his own heart. It wasn't that he forgot what the Shredder had done, but the memories were easier to bear. Now he could remember all the good things that came out of their time in Massachusetts. They had survived, and had come back stronger than ever. Somehow his time with the old man had worked an alchemy on his spirit. He didn't feel as if Christmas would continue to represent the night he failed the others. It was supposed to be a time of hope, and for the first time in two years he could feel that hope stirring in his heart again.   
  


************************  
Epilouge:   


The young man's white overcoat blew in the December winds, along with his shoulder length blond hair. Underneath the coat was a white sweater and jeans. "Are you quite sure that they are within your jurisdiction?" He asked his companion, "I would think Frances would have more to do with them."  
  


The elderly man who had spent the evening with the Ninja Turtle, tucked his own coat around his neck, and chuckled warmly. "Frances and I have been sharing duties concerning them. They're not quite like his other charges either, and despite their intelligence they are still young."  
  


"I suppose," The blond haired gentleman said with a shrug. "I know how you hate to have anyone unhappy during the holiday, and He must have approved. You got a lot of help tonight. "  
  


"He knew I would need to get Leonardo's attention," the old man answered with a smile. The boy had every right to be unhappy. It was going to take quite a bit to reach his heart."  
  


"Well you did quite well tonight," The blond man said. "Are you ready to go home?"  
  


"Not at all!" The old man said with a hearty laugh. "Gabriel, I'm entitled to a few more days during the season, and I'm going to take them. Go on without me I'll see you after the New Year."  
  


Gabriel laughed. "Very well Nicholas. Go have your fun, and Merry Christmas to you, my friend." With that the archangel spread his wings out and flew far off into the starry night.  
  


_Till ringing singing on it's way_

_the world revolved from night to day_

_a voice a chime, a chant sublime_

_of peace on earth good will to men. _

  
  


Merry Christmas. 


End file.
